FP JONES POV(12-years ago)
"Daddy, it hurts!" My son, Jughead, yelled as my wife Gladys drove to the hospital. My 5-year old son was most likely having bad acid reflux. But he was also complaining that his whole body felt like it was being stabbed.
"It's ok, Jughead. Hold on, you're going to be ok. Gladys, please hurry!" I yelled.
"I'm trying!"
"Try harder!" I yelled back to her. I looked down and saw that his lips were blue. He was losing oxygen and I'd never seen anything like this. I checked his pulse. Nothing.
"No, boy! You stay with me! Gladys, it's not acid reflux! He's not breathing!" I started to do chest-compressions and take breaths into his mouth. I didn't know what else to do. I looked up and saw that we pulled into the EMERGENCY ROOM area. I carried him out of the car and into the hospital. I set him on a stretcher and two doctors ran up to him. They put a heavy oxygen mask on his face and an IV into his arm.
"Take into a room, now! What's his name and how old is he?" One doctor asked.
"His name is, Forsythe Pendleton Jones III. He's 5-years old. We don't know what happened!" Gladys yelled. They hooked him up to a heart-beat monitor and she pulled out defibrillators and put them on his chest.
"100 volts, go!" She yelled. It shocked him and we looked at the heart beat screen, he was ok. The heartbeat screen was on and he was asleep peacefully. "We'll let him sleep and then take x-rays of his heart and lungs tomorrow. We're gonna have to keep him overnight, is that ok?"
"Yes, that's fine." I nodded.
"Good. I'm gonna have to ask some questions though. Can you please come to my office?" She asked. We nodded and we followed her to her office. I noticed a sign and that's when I realized, she's the chief of the hospital. We sat down in front of her desk and she sat behind.
"When did symptoms start?" She asked and typed into her laptop.
"About a couple days ago. He complained that his stomach hurt. I figured it was stomach acid because he has acid reflux. But then he developed weird looking things on his tonsils and had a fever of 100.5 so I figured, he had the flu. He's barely slept or eaten in days. He's stayed home all those days from school. But today, he was having trouble breathing and complaining that his stomach hurt really bad. He said is hurts everywhere in his body. He died my car." Gladys said beginning to cry. I took her hand and we exchanged looks.
"Alright, I think I know what the problem is. He's probably having anxiety and that's why he's not drinking or eating. His acid reflux is really bad so I can give him medicine for it. As for why he stopped breathing, he probably had an asthma attack-"
"Asthma attacks don't make you die so quickly!" Gladys yelled. I hushed her and the doctor kept talking.
"As for the tonsils things, What color were they?"
"White."
"It's probably tonsillitis. I'm diagnosing him with tonsillitis and asthma. I'll give you guys an inhaler and some medication for the tonsils and acid reflux. He probably had the flu as well so I say, you go home and give him soup. But it's late and considering his age, I'll let him stay overnight."
"You're wrong." Gladys said trying to hide her cries. The doctor seemed confused.
"What?"
"You're wrong! I know you're a doctor, but I looked in my son's eyes. I don't know why, but he doesn't have the things you said. It's a mother's instinct."
"Ma'am-"
"What's your name? Do you have children?"
"My name is Doctor Julia Williamson. I have two daughters named, Alexandra and Isabelle."
"Then you know! You know the mother's instinct! All mom's have taken their kids to the doctor, and the doctors say something wrong about the kid. We know, when the doctors are wrong. You have to believe me." Gladys said and took Doctor Williamson's hand.
"I'll run a blood test and scans of his body tomorrow morning. Will that make you feel better?" Doctor Williamson asked. Gladys nodded and we went into Jughead's room. He was sleeping with an oxygen tube in his nose and he was pale.
"He'll be ok, Gladys." I sighed.
"I hope my sister is taking care of Jellybean. Aunt Hermione has a child of her own and was woken up at 2AM to watch our daughter." Gladys smiled.
"I think Jellybean is asleep and Hiram can watch Veronica. I guess one of us can go back home."
"I'm sure Hermione is at the house sleeping. We'll stay. Let's try to get some sleep. I love you, FP."
"I love you too." I said. We ended up falling asleep in our chairs and it was an uncomfortable sleep. We woke up the next morning and Jughead was playing on an IPad.
"Good morning, Mommy! Good morning, Daddy!" Jughead exclaimed.
"Hey Jug, who gave you the IPad?" I asked.
"One of the nurses. She took my blood and spit for testing and they want me to get x-rays later. Is that ok?"
"Yeah. You just enjoy ok." I said. It wasn't long until a nurse came in and took Jughead to get x-rays. We went into a room with the doctor as Jughead got scans.
"Woah...this is extremely unusual." The doctor said.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"Your son's heart, lungs, liver, pancreas, and everything else look out of shape. I'll check in with other doctors and see what they say. I'm gonna have to ask you questions. First off, what is his diet like?"
"He eats a lot of hamburgers. But he eats vegetables and gets in a lot of dairy too. He eats protein."
"What about how active he is?"
"He's an active kid. He likes to hangout with the neighbors."
"Alright. I just need to wait for bacterial tests to come back. Jughead, can you please get dressed back into your clothes and come outside. You put the gown on the bed." The doctor said. We waited for Jughead to come out and he was rubbing his chest.
"Mommy, my chest hurts." Jughead moaned.
"It's just the pain killers kicking in. You'll be ok. Let's go back to the room." Gladys smiled. We walked back to the room and we saw Doctor Williamson in the room.
"Walk away from Jughead. We got his tests back. I've never seen a disease anything like it!" She yelled. She handed me the file and I was stunned.
Heart-Congestive Heart Failure
Liver-Liver Failure
Lungs-Pneumonia, Pulmonary Fibrosis
Pancreas-Pancreas Failure
Intestines-Gastrointestinal perforation
Stomach-Acid reflux, Stomach Failure
THIS PATIENT IS HIGHLY CONTAGIOUS! BEWARE!
"We're gonna have to take Jughead into Emergency surgery. He has a whole in his intestines. We haven't seen a disease like this before. The medical board is having a meeting later. Go take a shower and wash your hands. He's going to stay contagious for years." Doctor Williamson said. Jughead was taken away and that's when I knew...our lives were changed forever.
YOU ARE READING
Just Some Distance
Romance17-year old, Jughead Jones, has an unknown disease that makes it to where he can't touch people. It risks them getting the disease. However, it doesn't go well when Betty Cooper comes into his life.
